Two years ago, the Star Tribune ran a Whistleblower column and video on 33rd Avenue Southeast, way on the eastern edge of Minneapolis between Hennepin Ave and Como Ave, is one of the last unpaved roads in the city. Because it's mostly composed of dirt that has been oiled down considerably over the years, it looks like asphalt -- but it's not. For the past week or so, I've noticed construction activity in the area as I've gone past on the #3 bus -- looks like the city is actually paving the road along with a connected segment of Talmage Avenue. Judging by the Strib article, the project must have been delayed by a year for some reason. Nonetheless, they're working on it now. Here's the project page:

Taking a random outing on the Hiawatha Line today, I noticed that the road reconstruction project at 22nd Street East is nearly done, with striping on the road surface. A brand new intersection with Cedar Avenue just south of Franklin. It also includes reconstructing a little bit of Minneapolis's Snelling Avenue.

Are you talking about the NB 35W entrance from the 3rd/4th St trench, between the Dome and West Bank Station? I'm guessing we discussed that in the 35W thread or CCLRT, but that's a Hennepin County project rather than MNDOT, and has been pushed to 2014: http://www.hennepin.us/portal/site/Henn ... fe4689RCRD

Last edited by twincitizen on March 27th, 2013, 2:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I'm not saying you're wrong, but MNdot's brand new press release pretty clearly says otherwise. Maybe you know something we don't, but this seems pretty clear cut to me that they're going to do this work in 2013.

It looks great with all the bumpouts and whatnot, but way too many bus stops! The stops at 59th and 61st are ridiculous and unnecessary. The ones at 59th should be eliminated without question. There should be an explicit ban on having two stops on the same block face (far-side and then again near-side of the next intersection)

Apparently they are considering removal of the signals at 56th and 58th. Shouldn't that be set in stone before construction begins?

Pretty upsetting that Minneapolis' first cycle track wasn't included here. It was proposed, but then opposed because a few people didn't want to park across the street from their homes. Penn Avenue was on the Minneapolis Bicycle Master Plan and is a critical connection over 62 to Richfield.

It looks promising that there are a few bumpouts on Penn, and a few blocks where on-street parking is condensed to one side. Why not more of this? And, with the expanded boulevards it seems like it would be great for a cycletrack in some spots and bike lanes in others. Seriously, no bike lanes at all on this route? Reading the neighborhood feedback from the public meetings is about as depressing as reading Pioneer Press comment threads.

Well they just have a cartoon up. The lanes will probably be reduced a foot or two for the gutter pan.

Yeah Penn is a real bummer. Too bad Mayor RT "Savior and Champion of Bicycling" Rybak didn't show up to advocate for decent cycling facilities in his own neighborhood. I believe there is money in the budget to make one of the nearby side streets even more safe for cycling, though, for what that's worth (nothing).

Edit: I forgot to complain about Public Works' refusal to add bump-outs at transit lanes, despite the fact that they are proven to increase safety and efficiency of transit. Remember that next time some politician brags about how great the buses are here (or next time you almost get hit by some douchebag in a rusty Duster making an illegal right turn around a bus at a stop).

redisciple, I believe you are right about a side street being converted to a bike boulevard (Oliver Ave. specifically). Not sure if the funding was included as a part of this project though. It's another great example of treating biking as a novelty form of transportation. Oliver crosses neither 62 or the creek, forcing a detours and un-bike-friendly access to local businesses along Penn.

If anyone else is unhappy with this, it all boils down to political will. We need people in office that actually are "Saviors and Champions of Bicycling (and Urbanism)" to ensure important projects like this lean to a more urban friendly design, which is why it is so important to get your voice heard at the April 16 caucuses! See: viewtopic.php?f=23&t=1265

MNdible wrote:I'm not saying you're wrong, but MNdot's brand new press release pretty clearly says otherwise. Maybe you know something we don't, but this seems pretty clear cut to me that they're going to do this work in 2013.

mulad wrote:I'll bet that 2014 is just a typo on the Hennepin County page.

Not trying to one-up anyone but I was just dyin' to know, so I contacted Nick Peterson at Hennepin County and he said, "Great question.
That is no typo. The project should start next year."

What I don't understand is that the main reason for a lot of the work on the Bloomington Ferry Bridge is to handle the extra traffic from the 101 project over the next couple years. However, now they're saying 101 won't need to close during construction. Seems like a bit of a waste. I know the 169 bridge needed to be worked on anyways, but the reinforcing they're doing on the shoulders to carry extra traffic seems kind of pointless now. Would rather of seen the money go to expansion to 3 lanes all the way to/from 494. Or at least auxiliary lanes from Pioneer Trail to Anderson Lakes and Anderson Lakes to 494 East. Theres plenty of room and row doesn't seem to be a problem. Anyone know of any plans to expand 169?